Bowl games do determine champions

Bowl games following a college football season have been a tradition since 1902, when the Rose Bowl was first held in Pasadena, California. Fast forward to 2000. This season, there will be 25 post-season bowl games, from the 87th Annual Rose Bowl, to the first-year galleryfurniture.com Bowl in Houston, Texas and the Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, California.

During those 98 years, millions of fans, hundreds of thousands of student-athletes, coaches and staff members have been a part of the bowl experience. It's an experience that is truly college football.

AN ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE
College football bowl games offer a participating institution its student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans an unforgettable experience that will produce memories that will last a lifetime.

COMMUNITY PRIDE
Bowl games are rallying points for their communities. Every year, communities around the country are in the spotlight when national media, participating institutions and college football fans come to visit. To the groups of local volunteers hosting these bowl games, it is a chance to let their community shine like never before. Whether it's the head coach or the reserve lineman or the student trainer, everyone is treated like royalty. BOWL GAMES MAKE GREAT TOURIST DESTINATIONS College football fans know the way to celebrate the holidays is a visit to a postseason bowl game. During last season's bowl games, more than 1.25 million fans attended 23 bowl games. The average capacity of the 23 bowl games was at 86.6 percent. Since 1980, an average of 55,446 fans have attended 379 bowl games.

BOWL GAMES GIVE BACK TO PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS AND THE COMMUNITY
Last year, 23 bowl games distributed more than $141.5 million to 46 participating schools. During the 87 years in which there has been postseason competition, more than $1.35 billion have been distributed to higher education and more than 40 percent of that total ($560 million) has been distributed in the last five years. These bowl games have been lightning rods for their communities. Hosting a bowl game can mean an annual impact between $80-$150 million into the bowl site's local economy. A significant part of that money goes to local charities. Last season, more than 3,400 student-athletes experienced a postseason bowl game. These student-athletes took time to visit area landmarks and children's hospitals, participated in clinics and spoke to youth groups.

BOWL GAMES DO DETERMINE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Every year, bowl games have determined the national championship. And, during the last two seasons and in 2000, the Bowl Championship Series guarantees one game to determine the national champion. The Bowl Championship Series consists of the Rose Bowl presented by AT&T, the Nokia Sugar Bowl, the FedEx Orange Bowl and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The conferences with automatic berths include the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-10 and Southeastern conferences. Once again, ABC Sports will televise all four BCS games. At the conclusion of this season, the teams that are ranked first and second in the final BCS Standings will play for the national championship in the FedEx Orange Bowl on January 3 in Miami, Florida.

BOWL GAMES ARE COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Bowl games add to the pageantry, color and excitement of college football. Bowl games bring a measure of importance to the regular season not seen in other sports. Bowl games are fitting conclusions for winning teams to end their season. Bowl games are college football!